Beverage preparation machines such as coffee or tea brewing machines are well known. It is known to provide beverage preparation machines which dispense individual servings of beverage directly into a receptacle such as a cup. Such machines may derive the beverage from a bulk supply of beverage ingredients or from packages of beverage ingredients such as pods, pads or cartridges. An example of one type of such packages is shown in EP1440903. In the following specification such packages will be referenced by the general term cartridges. However, the invention is not limited to use with one particular type of pod, pad or cartridge. The beverages are formed from brewing, mixing, dissolving or suspending the beverage ingredients in water. For example, for coffee beverages, heated water is passed through the cartridges to form the extracted solution.
It is known to provide machines with a reservoir in which to store water. The reservoir may be manually refillable or, alternatively, it is known for machines to be plumbed into a mains supply of water which allows for semi-automatic or automatic refilling of the reservoir.
It is also known to provide beverage preparation machines comprising first and second brewers coupled together within a single housing or installation.
A problem with beverage preparation machines is that high demand on the machine—that is the need to dispense a number of beverages in quick succession—can lead to delays since the water in the reservoir must be heated to a particular temperature in order to allow for good quality beverages to be produced. One solution that has been suggested is to provide the machine with a more powerful heater. However, this solution can cause problems where the machine is to be used where there is a limited power supply available. In addition, limited power supply has been found to be a particular problem for beverage preparation machines comprising first and second brewers in a coupled arrangement.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a beverage preparation machine and method which helps to overcome at least some of these problems.